Calls are in to some drywallers to see who will have a reasonable bid for the mudding and taping. I REALLY hope that they aren't too expensive because I really don't want to do it with all of those edges...

One guy was supposed to get back to me tonight, but didn't... He is good friends (or at least poker buddies) with the guy who sits next to me at work, so I am guessing I will get it tomorrow. The other guy is getting me a quote tomorrow as well.

One guy came in and was done getting the info he needed in about 10 minutes, the other guy took about 25 minutes. Different methods I guess.

I saw some numbers online of $0.25 - $0.40 per sqft to mud/tape/texture. I've got about 4000 sqft of drywall exposed (actually less once taking out all of the cut scraps), more drywall than that went up, but about 19 sheets (4x12) in the home theater are covered up by another layer of drywall... So, at $0.40, that comes to about $1600. Now, I've got a good amount of corners, so the price will be higher, but I don't know by how much.

One of the drywall guys is bidding this out from his own drywall business, the other guy works for a drywall company during the day, and is doing this as a side job (cash). Both have been around for a long time, and both came recommended by people that either my wife or I know and had drywall finishing done by them.

I will report back on that tomorrow.

So, I started getting a little crazy with the Green Glue. I was expecting to have about 1/3 - 1/2 of a bucket left over (still cheaper than getting tubes), so I was adding it on kind of thick... Now I am starting to run low. I will make it fine, but just barely.

Oh, and the "just need to hang drywall on these easy soffits" idea was dumb. They were a pain because they still required the lift, and they still required working above my head. I made some good progress, but it still sucked. I am also getting low on 18" or wider 5/8" thick drywall pieces for the bottom of the soffits. I might need to get creative, or if I have to, I will just need to get another 4x8 sheet and be done with it. Of course, that means getting the minivan from my daughter (the only vehicle she is allowed to drive due to her "great" driving record) and she needs to drive across town tomorrow night. Maybe I will have to come home from work early and snag it quick.

I was up until after 1:00 am last night putting screws in a ton of the sheets of drywall that just were up with 6-8 screws to hold them in place. I put in enough to meet code in the entire basement (ceiling included) except for the game room/wet bar area. I still need to go around and "sink" a bazillion of them so that they aren't sticking up. Even with a drywall drill bit that is supposed to just barely recess them (tried 3 different ones in 2 different styles) there are a bunch (again, bazillion) that just need a little bit more turns. I also have 4 pieces of drywall to put up yet. 4 of them are for the rear "columns" in the home theater, so they are about 7 feet "tall" by about 6 inches wide. Goop them with the last little bit of Green Glue and up they will go. I also have one small piece to put up above a door frame that is 5 feet long by about 1.5 inches wide. Again easy. I took a vacation day tomorrow and will finish up that stuff and then have the drywall "screw" inspection at 4:00. Should go OK.

Mudders/tapers start on Monday (I am traveling for work) so I should come home later in the week to some nice progress.

FYI. One big from a guy that runs his own drywall company was $3600. We've seen his work and it is very nice. Another bid, from a guy who is a drywall mudder/taper/texturer by trade and is doing it on the side (cash) was $1850.

The first guy was actually subbing it out, so there is double profit in there. Profit for the sub-contractors, and profit for him.

I've seen the second guy's work too and it also is very good. He is giving me a "deal" too (or so he says) because he is good friends with a guy I work with and my co-worker told I guess has given him enough business like this, that he said I needed a good deal.

I have so many brand new (to me) blu-rays that I have purchased since I started in the basement last summer. I haven't seen most of them because I wanted to wait for the theater. The first one I bought that I DID see was TRON, so if that helps you think of all of the movies that have come out since then...

Not sure what I will watch though. I should create a vote for that some day. It will need (yes, NEED) to be something with some action, great sound, and great picture.

Also for the drywall bits - I have never had luck with them either. I find it faster to just countersink manually with a regular bit rather than having to revisit each screw after the drywall bit failed to do its job. Maybe I've just never found a good quality brand/design?